35 Weeks and a TON of Pictures

This week Charlotte and I were lucky enough to attend another shower thrown in our honor, but this time it was for two other babies and mamas too!  Two other girls that I work with are pregnant as well and our co-workers were nice enough to throw us all a joint couples shower at the lake this past Saturday.  We all had a great time hanging out together, eating, opening gifts, and chatting at the lake.  Thanks Nina and Maria!  Scotty was unable to make the shower due to work but I still had a great time!

Well the A/C is still broken upstairs in our house.  So frustrating!  It has been triple digits here with the heat index and I am getting pretty fed up.  I have called and complained and emailed and complained and still nothing.  They are pretty good at making up excuses.  I have decided that if it is not fixed this week I will be calling a company of our choosing and having them come out on Monday to fix the problem and we will just send a bill to the property company/home owner.  This has been a problem since May and we have made it known that this has been a problem.  Mama is not happy and they know it.  The days go by so quickly and soon our little tiny baby will be coming home and newsflash... she can't sleep in over 90 degrees.  So they need to get it together quick!

With the A/C being broken and it being so hot here, I have tried to keep my water intake up.  The last couple of times that my amniotic fluid has been checked it has been fine so the doctor seems to think that I was just dehydrated the first time and now I have been panicked about being dehydrated.  So I have been drinking over a gallon of water daily.  Gallon.  Of water.  Daily.  So good for me but dang that's a lot of water and a lot of bathroom breaks.

Anyway - one of the final pieces of the bringing baby home puzzle has been completed.  This week I asked one of the CAT team (Community Action Team) deputies from work to come and install the car seat.  He was nice enough to come to my office and show me/put in the car seat correctly.  That was a huge weight off of my shoulders knowing that it was in, for one, and that it was put in correctly as well.  We still have two more to put in but I think that I know how to do it and I can get them checked as well after Scotty and I try to put them in. 

I am a little ahead on my doctor appointments since I have been being seen on Mondays and Tuesdays are the days that my weeks change over.  I was seen yesterday for my 36 week check up (35 weeks 6 days).  I had another ultrasound to have my fluid checked and they count the baby's movements and count her breathing movements as well.  The ultrasound person that I got this time was much better than the last 2 that I have had.  She was very chipper and nice and said things like "she is breathing so well!," "you ate breakfast this morning didn't you - I can tell because she is already moving around!"  Well praise the Lord for her.  She made me feel much more at ease than the other two ladies did.  She did need to see Charlotte move one more time and she was refusing to do it and I was rubbing on her and turning on my side and finally she moved again and we scored an 8 out of 8 on the test that they do with the breathing, movements, cord flow, and something else. Heart rate maybe?  Oh well - we passed and my fluid was at 11 again and the doctor said that was perfect.  Baby's heart rate was 143 this time.  Then it was my turn to be examined.  We saw the doctor and she went over the ultrasound print out with me again.  She measured my belly and said that baby girl is measuring right at 36 weeks, just like she should be.  My blood pressure is still down at 102/60 which she was happy with.  Then came the fun part - cervix check.  I have grown to hate this already and I know that I have so many more coming my way.  After this check I was much more uncomfortable for the rest of the day.  I don't know if I was anticipating what was going to happen and was tense or if there is just more pressure from the baby now or what but I did not feel the greatest yesterday.  Not to mention I was outside a lot and was very hot all day.  Hopefully it won't be like that the rest of the exams. Well the doctor said that I am now a full centimeter dilated, 50% effaced, and she can touch the baby's head.  Holy crap.  Yeah - things are getting real. 

Last appointment I had mentioned my fears about a C-section and the doctor explained that it has to do a lot with how "favorable" my cervix is.  She said that mine is definitely becoming more favorable but that she would like to see the baby move down a little bit more and that we still have time for that to happen.  She said that it is too early to tell whether or not her head will be too big to fit but that it is a good sign that she is starting to move down because that can be a good indicator that the baby will be able to fit.  She said that it can be harder for women like her and I who have shorter waists and that can mean that our pelvis is more narrow.  She wanted me to know that a C-section is not the end of the world and can be better and safer for mom and baby than trying to push out a baby that can barely fit through the birth canal or cause more damage to the lady area that will take longer to heal than a C-section scar.  She knows that I prefer to have a vaginal birth (as long as it is safe) but she is gradually putting me more at ease about a C-section if it has to happen.  It is like she said, "only the good Lord knows what is going to happen right now." No point in worrying about things that I have no control over. As long as this little baby gets here safely that is all that I care about.  I don't care how she gets here.  Amen. 

The disk of all of our maternity pictures was ready last week and I have posted those below.  I chose Joshua Aaron Photography here in Columbia after talking to a few people and checking out their photos.  They are a husband and wife team and they were really fun to work with.  As the pictures go along you will see that it started to get really hot...but I made it through and Scotty and I are both very pleased with the pictures.  I will use those photographers again - most likely for Charlotte's newborn pictures.  So you can check those out below with the weekly picture.

Thanks!



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

34 Weeks - A Hospital Visit and a Shower

So I had an up and a down this week.  I had my 34 week check up and I was to have an ultrasound to get an estimated weight on the baby.  So I went and I had an ultrasound first.  The lady (her first day by the way) was quite late.  She said that she had done ultrasounds before but that this was a different kind of machine and she was getting used to it.  Great.  This scan was much different than the others in the sense that it was harder to see the baby parts since she is so squished in there now.  It was also different because the ultrasound lady was looking at measuring different things than normal.  She measured the head, leg bone, and other things but she measured the fluid pockets which they have not done before.  So I finished the scan and headed in to see the Dr.  She said that everything looked good.  Baby is estimated at 6 pounds 4 ounces right now which puts her at the 72 percentile (if 50 is "normal" at 5 pounds).  She said that the heart rate looked good (149) and that the blood flow through the umbilical cord looked great (that was never measured before).  This was an important measurement because my amniotic fluid level was low.  Uh oh.  That was where the Dr. got a little concerned.  She said that this can be a problem because low fluid increases the chances of problems with the cord such as it wrapping around the baby's neck or getting stuck below her head.  The Dr. explained that my number was at 5.9 and they do not like to see it fall under 5.  The doctor also mentioned that if the fluid continues to stay low that we would need to talk about bringing Charlotte earlier than our induction date.  She said that most babies at this point are developed and just putting on fat the rest of the time and that they usually don't even need a ventilator.  So that made me feel better that if she needed to come out that she would be ok. 

So the doctor decided to send me to the MAC (Maternal Assessment Center) at the hospital to get some fluids and told me that I would need to come back on Monday to be checked again. Did I forget to mention this was my first appointment without Scotty?  Thank goodness my mom was in town to go with me.  So we headed over there and I checked in and I was put in a room and given an IV (I did ok.  Lots of sweating while she put it in.  No passing out but she did miss the vein the first time and had to stick me again.)  The nurse ran the fluids wide open so it did not take long for the bag to empty.  They hooked me up to the fetal heart rate monitor.  I loved sitting and listening to the baby's heartbeat over and over.  Then she would move and it would be so loud.  She would hiccup too and that was very loud!  One time she moved away from the monitor and it took the nurse a minute or two to find her again and I panicked.  But she was just hiding : )  After my fluid bag was empty, I then was taken to radiology to have another scan at the hospital.  The nurse explained their machines are a lot better than the ones at the doctor's office. 

The ultrasound lady at the hospital was very hard to read.  She was saying things like "well I'm just checking to make sure the baby is breathing  - and then would stare at the screen like her life depended on it, or things like "the baby has a lot to do and I only have 30 minutes, or so you have been feeling the baby move?"  YIKES!  She needed some bedside manner.  I was one terrified mama after seeing her.  I was ok until then.  I wasn't worried about getting fluids.  I knew it had to be done and it was for baby girl but then when she started all that talk I got scared.  They gave me a print out of the results to take up to my nurse.  The nurse looked them over and showed it to the on-call Dr. from my practice and they said my number was now 12 and that the baby and I looked perfectly healthy and they sent me home.

I went back to the doctor today for my 35 week check up (actually 34 weeks, 6 days) and I was scanned again and my fluid was at 11 and everything else looks great!  Baby and I are doing well.  My BP was good and her HR was in the 150s.  The doctor said that since my fluids were up today and since they came up so quick with the fluid at the hospital she thinks that I was just dehydrated.  I was swabbed for my GBS test (Group B Strep) which moms can be a carrier of and not know it and pass it to the baby during delivery.  My cervix was also checked (sooo not fun or comfortable).  I am 25% effaced and about a fingertip dilated.  Doc says this is right where I am supposed to be.  So we shall see how things look at next weeks appointment. 

So that was my scare for the week but everything turned out A-OK which is all that matters.  For the good news of the week - I had another baby shower!  Scotty's mom, Jerri and sister Lisa, threw a shower for me and my South Carolina friends at Jerri's house on Sunday.  We had a great time eating and playing games.  I have included a few pictures below.  It is amazing how people can make you feel so loved and love little Charlotte so much and she isn't even here yet!  I was/am so thankful for my family support and my friend's support as well.  Charlotte and I appreciate it so much. 

So a little funny side note - during the ultrasound at the doctor the lady printed off a few pictures.  She would show Mom and I Charlotte's profile and we could see a hand and a foot and the lady mentioned that she could even see the teeth that are down under Charlotte's gums.  Well I have included one of the pictures below that to me look like "teeth."  While waiting for the doctor I was looking at the pictures more closely and thinking about the teeth comment.  See if you can see these teeth in the picture and how they look like country bumpkin teeth and that I hope I am making this up in my head.  Mom was dying laughing when I pointed it out to her.  Enjoy!

Table : )

Food

Present Table



Layken and her sister Morgan

Me and Baby Millie

Melissa and Hayley filling out baby advice for me

Me and my cute headgear

Melissa, Hayley, Morgan, and Layken



Liz. Maria, and Nina giving me some baby advice

Kara

Guessing how big around my belly is

More presents

Pretty pink flowers

A few pictures measuring the belly guesses

Playing a nursery rhyme game

Opening presents

 

Millie had an accident that required a new set of clothes and had to go home.  Oh what fun I have to look forward to  : )

Yes, I am sweating opening presents.

Amy, Kara, Nina, Me Liz, and Maria (all work friends)

Layken, Me and Morgan



Hayley and I

Melissa and I



Kathleen and I

One of Charlotte's grandmothers and I

Her other grandmother and one of her aunts

Me and all the wonderful gifts!

Does anyone else see the bucked teeth?!  OMG!  I need one of those things where I can circle stuff like they do on ESPN and when they show the weather.



You can kind of see an eye, mouth, and fist here



Profile with a fist